The Sands will Rise
by slexieotpforever
Summary: Adventure is in an archaeologist's blood. Survival is an in archaeologist's blood. Love... not so much. Love for adventure, love for the unexplained and unexplored; definitely. But love for another person, love for a stranger... well, that is unfamiliar territory. And though unfamiliar territory is what archaeology is about, it isn't as simple to explore that particular area.
1. Reunion

***Annabelle's P.O.V.***

I smoothed out my outfit as I stood in front of the Museum of Antiquities, where my sister works. I sighed. This is it. And finally, I opened the doors, and entered the museum. I looked around, only to see everything clean and neat. I smiled. I should have known that's how things were going to be if my sister worked here. Suddenly there were many loud bangs from the other side of the museum, causing me to jump. I then quickly ran to the room where I heard the noise from. As I was running, I bumped into someone. I looked up, and saw Dr. Bey, the curator of the museum. He looked at me in shock for a second, and then bowed his head slightly in respect, making me return the gesture.

"Miss Carnahan," he greeted, and I smiled a small smile.

"Dr. Bey," I answered, and he smiled a small smile as well, "Do you know where I could find my sister?" I asked, and he nodded.

"She is right over there," he pointed to the room on the other side of the hallway.

"Isn't that where-?"

"The noise came from?" he interrupted, and I nodded, "Yes. Your sister has been causing me a lot of problems," I looked at him in disbelief. My sister? The angel of the family?

"Are we talking about the same person?" I asked, and he nodded.

"I'm afraid we are," was his reply, and I frowned. I never would have guesses. I sighed, and then quickly headed to the room the curator pointed at. I could hear him right behind me. Once I entered the room, I froze, causing Dr. Bey to bump into me. I looked around the room, not believing my eyes. It was a mess! And I'm not talking about a normal mess. This was the library, and all of the bookshelves, except for the ones that were against the wall, were on the floor, along with the books. Many books have fallen apart, and the pages were flying in the air. The bookshelves have fallen like a domino, each one hitting the next one, until they have made a full circle, and right in the middle was my younger sister.

"Wha-?!" Dr. Bey exclaimed, stepping on one of the bookshelves, looking around, "Ho-Ho-?" he stammered, looking and gesturing to everything around him, "How...?" he trailed off as his eyes settled on my sister, "Look at this! Sons of the Pharaohs! Give me frogs! Flies! Locusts! Anything but you!" he yelled angrily, walking over to my sister, pointing at her with his finger. I sighed a quiet sigh, and jumped over one of the bookshelves, walking over to them as well. Once Evy saw me, her eyes widened slightly. She then looked back at Dr. Bey. "In comparison to you, plagues are a joy!"

"I'm sorry, that was an accident," she apologized, making the curator sigh.

"An accident was when Ramses destroyed Syria. But this is a catastrophe! Why do I put up with you?!"

"Well you put up with me because I can read and write in Ancient Egyptian," my sister answered smartly. "I can decipher hieroglyphs and hieratics. And I'm the only person within a thousand miles, other than Annabelle, who knows how to properly code and-and catalog this library! That's why!"

"I put up with you because your sister is the greatest archaeologist on this planet and because your parents were our finest patrons," Dr. Bey said, making Evy's gaze fall to the floor for a minute, "Allah rest their souls," he muttered, before looking at my sister sharply, "Now, I don't care how you do this, or how long it will take you. Clean this up!" he sneered, and then stormed out of the library.

I sighed, and then looked at my sister, who wouldn't meet my gaze. I walked over to her, and pulled her into a hug. She quickly returned it, and I could feel her shaking. She was crying. I sniffled a little as a couple of tears fell down my face as well. After a minute or two we pulled away, and I looked at her with a smile. She has changed so much! She is no longer the 13 year old girl that I knew and left behind when I was 15. She is now a beautiful 19-year-old woman.

"I've missed you so much, Anna," she said quietly, still crying, making me smile at the nickname all my family always used.

"I missed you, too," She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a noise from the other room behind her. Evy turned around to look in that direction, and then looked back at me. I just shrugged my shoulders and started walking towards the room, and she quickly followed behind, putting her glassed down on the table. Once we entered the room, I noticed it was the room in the museum where all the tombs were.

"Hello?" Evy and I both called out, but there was no answer. I looked around for a second, before taking out my gun that was hidden beneath my dress. I looked back at Evy for a second, whose eyes widened at the sight of my gun, before turning back around and taking a step forward. Evy and I both walked further in, looking around.

"Abdul? Mohammett? Bob?" Evy called the names quietly, probably hoping the noise was one of her friends. I turned to my right and eyed the space further down, until I heard a noise behind me, causing me to whip around and position my gun in front of me, with my finger very close to the trigger. I walked forward towards an opened tomb, where I heard the noise come from. As I came closer, I could feel Evy starting to take sharp breaths. I walked closer to the tomb, and peeked inside. Suddenly Evy and I both screamed and jumped away as a rotten mummy shot out from the tomb with a shriek. I took a deep breath for a second and placed my hand on Evy's arm to calm her down, before putting my gun away, as I heard someone laughing from the inside of the tomb. I sighed, and looked in that direction as I saw our older brother sit up in the tomb, putting an arm around the mummy. He has also changed. He was no longer the 29-year-old idiot I left behind. He was now a 35-year-old idiot.

"Have you no respect for the dead?" I asked Jonathan, and he looked at me, his eyes widening.

"Anna?" he choked out, and I smiled, confirming his thoughts. He then quickly jumped out of the tomb and engulfed me in a huge hug. I smiled softly and hugged him back tightly. We stayed like this for a moment, and then he pulled away, looking me up and down, "Wow," he breathed out, making me smile. Still the same old Jonathan. He then turned his gaze to look at our younger sister, "You know, now that Anna's here, you can finally lighten up," Evy only scoffed and looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Like you? Get out of here before you destroy my career like you did yours," she ordered angrily, putting the mummy away.

"My dear, sweet, baby sisters. I'll have you both know that at this moment my career is on a high note," Jonathan said, and Evy rolled her eyes.

"High note?" she scoffed, "Jonathan, please. I have made a mess, and the school in Bembridge has rejected my application once again," she sighed in disappointment, sitting down a base of one of the statues, "They say I don't have as much experience in the field as our sister, so therefor I am not good enough," I smiled at her sadly and sat down next to her, wrapping a comforting arm around her, while she lied her head on my shoulder. I looked at Jonathan, who was giving our sister a sympathetic look, pointedly and he quickly walked over to us, kneeling down in front of Evy and grabbing her hands in his.

"Well, you always have me," he said, making her smile despite her sadness. He grinned and then tapped my nose, standing up and looking for something inside the tomb. "Besides, I have something that will definitely lighten you up."

"Oh no, another piece of jewelry without value?" Evy groaned, "You want me to give the curator some trash?-" she stopped herself abruptly as Jonathan held up a small box in front of her, sitting down next to us. My eyes widened.

"Where did you get this?" I asked, and he looked at me. I could see them from the corner of my eye, but I was too concentrated on the box. It seemed to be a puzzle box, with many different hieroglyphs all over it. I started mumbling to myself as I read quietly, and turned the box in my fingers.

"On a dig. Down in Thebes," he answered, making me roll my eyes slightly. Both of my siblings are horrible liars. And Jonathan was definitely lying now, "I have never found anything in my life. Please tell me this is worth something, Anna," he practically begged as I kept playingwith the box. Suddenly my finger pressed a hidden button, making the box click open, revealing eight different-shaped edges, and a map made out of papyrus. I could tell the map was very old. It had around couple thousand years.

"Jonathan," I said quietly, taking out the map carefully, a smile growing on my face.

"Yes?" my brother whispered, making my smile widen.

"I thing you've found something,"

* * *

"You see the cartouche?" Evy pointed to the seal on the map that lied on Dr. Bey's desk, before walking over to stand next to where he was sitting on the chair behind his desk. As soon as we discovered the map in Jonathan's puzzle box, Evy grabbed it and ran with it to Dr. Bey's office. "It's the official royal seal of Seti I, I'm sure of it,"

"So am I," I nodded.

"Perhaps," was all Dr. Bey replied, putting away his magnifying glass.

"Two questions," Jonathan spoke up, walking over to stand next to me on my other side of Dr. Bey's desk, "Who the hell is Seti I? And was he rich?" I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"He was the last pharaoh of the Old Kingdom," I explained shortly.

"Said to be the wealthiest of them all," Evy piped in, looking at Jonathan with a smirk.

"Alright, good, that's good. I like this fellow," Jonathan said with a greedy grin on his face, "I like him very much," I shook my head at him, before looking back at Dr. Bey.

"I've already dated it. This map is almost four thousand years old. And look at this," I pointed to a specific city on the map. "It's Hamunaptra,"

"My dear girl, don't be ridiculous," Dr. Bey looked at me, putting away the magnifying glass that he picked up to examine the map once more. "We are scholars, not treasure hunters. Hamunaptra is a myth made up by Arabic locals to attract tourists,"

"I am not a scholar," I said, "I am an explorer, as you well know, and an archaeologist. Yes, I know about all this ridiculous talk about the mummy that protects the city, but based on my research, I came to a conclusion that the city itself may have actually existed," I finished, looking up at Evy as I said the last part, and saw her eyes light up in interest.

"Are we talking about the Hamunaptra?" Jonathan asked, leaning against the curator's desk.

"The City of The Dead, where the early pharaohs were told to have hidden the wealth of Egypt," Evy said, smiling at him in excitement.

"Yes, yes, in a-a-a big underground treasure chamber," Jonathan remembered, walking away from the desk. He turned around to look at us as he heard Dr. Bey scoff, "Oh come one, everyone knows this story. The entire necropolis was rigged to sink into the sand," he said, walking over to stand next to me again. "On pharaoh's command; a flick of the switch! And the whole place could disappear beneath the dunes."

"As the Americans would say: it's all fairy tales and hokum-oh my goodness!" Dr. Bey suddenly exclaimed as he threw the map that was now on fire to the floor. While he was examining it further, the map caught fire from the lit candle that was on his desk. Evy and Jonathan quickly ran over and fell to their knees, hitting it against the carpet, trying to put the fire out. I, however, stood still and watched Dr. Bey with suspicion. He would never be so careless to set such an important artifact in history on fire. Something is wrong. He did it on purpose.

"You burned it!" Jonathan exclaimed in disbelief. "You burned off the part with the Lost City!"

"It's for the best, I'm sure of it," Dr. Bey said nonchalantly. "Many men have wasted their lives in foolish pursuit of Hamunaptra. No one's ever found the city... And most have never returned."


	2. Mr O'Connell

***Annabelle's P.O.V.***

"Come, come! Welcome to Cairo Prison, my modest home," the warden of the Cairo Prison greeted us as we stepped through the gates that led to the courtyard. Evy's eyes were wide and she looked like she was going to get sick as she clinged onto Jonathan, her arm hooked through his. I was walking on her other side, making sure that she won't suddenly run off. There were many prisoners on left and right, and we were all slightly on edge. I was a little more calm, seeing as I had my gun hidden underneath my dress. We were here for only one reason: to find out where the puzzle box actually came from. We were here to see the man who owned it before Jonathan stole it from him.

"You told us you found in on a dig in Thebes," Evy scolded, not happy to be here at all.

"I was mistaken," Jonathan replied nonchalantly.

"You lied to us!" Evy said accusingly.

"He lies to everyone," I said with a sigh, turning to my younger sister. "What makes us so special?"

"We're his sisters!" she exclaimed.

"Which makes you more gullible," Jonathan chuckled nervously, making me roll my eyes.

"You stole it from a drunk!" Evy exclaimed in disbelief as we neared the cell of the prisoner we came to see.

"Picked his pocket, actually," Jonathan smiled nervously, pulling Evy back and turning her around, hoping that he will succeed in making us leave. Thankfully I was still here, so I just grabbed his other arm as he was turning around and pulled him back.

"Don't be stupid," I huffed and pulled him and Evy towards the warden as he stopped in front of a cell. Well, it wasn't actually a cell. It was a square of courtyard surrounded by bars. It was more like a cage, "What is this man in prison for?" I asked, and the warden looked at me.

"Now, this I did not know, so when I heard you were coming, I asked him that myself," he replied, staring at me the entire time, which made me cringe. He was absolutely disgusting! He smelled disgusting, looked disgusting; his teeth were even green and rotten!

"And what did he say?" Evy asked, and I thanked her silently as the Warden's attention now turned to her.

"He said he was just looking for a good time," the warden replied simply, making me roll my eyes slightly. Just as he finished the sentence, the door to the internal cells opened, and two guards came out dragging a man in shackles. They shoved him against the bars, and when he just stood there stiffly, they hit him in the back with a metal stick, causing him to fall on his knees. I examined him quickly. He has obviously been here for a long time. His dark red hair is long and knotted, he has a scraggly beard, and he obviously hasn't washed in a while.

"This is the man you've stolen from?" Evy asked in disbelief, and Jonathan cringed as she said that out loud, not wanting the man to hear what she said.

"Way to go, Evy."

"Who are you?" the man asked in an American accent, staring at Jonathan, before his eyes landed on me and Evy, "And who are the broads?" Evy looked completely outraged at what he called us, but I just sighed and rolled my eyes, crossing my arms across my chest. I've been called worse.

"I am a missionary who spreads the word of God, and these are my sisters: Anna and Evy," Jonathan said nervously, stepping forward and pulling us with him.

"How do you do?" Evy asked with a small smile, trying to be polite.

"Yeah well, I'm sure they're not a total loss." The man said, his eyes lingering on me a little longer than on Evy. I rolled my eyes again, whilst Evy looked at him outraged and offended.

"I beg your pardon?!" she choked out in disbelief, but was interrupted by the warden shouting something in Arabic to someone across the courtyard.

"I'll be right back," he threw at us, before walking away. I sighed in relief as the horrible smell of his left the air.

"Ask him about the box," Jonathan whispered to Evy.

"Um, we have found your, your puzzle box, and we've come to ask you about it," Evy said politely with a smile.

"No," the man shook his head, causing Evy's smile to falter.

"No?" we both repeated.

"No. You came here to ask me about Hamunaptra," the man said, and my siblings quickly looked around to make sure that no one around us was paying attention to what we were saying.

"How do you know the box pertains to Hamunaptra?" I asked, and the man turned to me.

"Because that's where I found it. I was there," he simply replied, and Jonathan suddenly stepped forward, leaning down to look him in the eyes, whilst Evy stood there, stunned.

"And how do we know that's not a load of pig swallow?" my brother asked, and recognition suddenly flashed across the man's face.

"Hey, do I know you?"

"No, I just have this face-" the man's eyes suddenly widened as he realized where he saw Jonathan before, and cut my older brother off by punching him square in the nose. Jonathan fell back to the ground, holding his face, and Evy quickly rushed to his aid, while I just picked up the hem of my dress slightly and stepped over him, wanting to find out more about Hamunaptra from this man. One of the guards clubbed him in the back for hitting Jonathan, but I could care less at the moment. My brother deserved it. Besides, it's not like his nose was broken.

"You were actually in Hamunaptra?" I asked, intrigued. The man's eyes fell on me, and a sly grin started to form on his face.

"Yeah, I was there."

"You swear?"

"Every damn day," I couldn't help the small smirk that grew on my lips as I heard his reply, while Evy looked up at him from where she was on the ground, helping Jonathan sit up.

"No she meant-"

"I know what she meant," the man cut her off, before looking at me once again, "I was there, alright? The City of the Dead." He said, waving his hands shakily as he said 'The City of the Dead', mocking the creepy part.

"Could you tell me how to get there?" I asked, and he raised his eyebrows at me. I turned around as I heard the warden coming back, and quickly took off my hat and held it at the side of my face as a barrier so that no one would hear what I was saying. "I mean, the exact location."

"You want to know?" the man asked.

"Yes."

"Do you really?"

"Yes," I repeated, growing a bit annoyed and leaning further in as he gestured for me to do so. The next thing I know, he grabbed my chin with his hand and pulled my lips onto his. The kiss was short, but I couldn't pull away even if I wanted to because I was in too big of a shock.

"Then get me the hell out of here," he said as the guards started pulling him away. He put up a fight while I stepped back, still in shock. "Do it!"

"Did he just...?" Evy stood up and stood next to me, looking at the retreating man in disbelief, unable to finish her sentence. I couldn't even find my voice so I just nodded.

"Where are they taking him?" I asked the warden, forcing myself to speak, as he came over to us.

"To be hanged," he replied nonchalantly, causing mine and my sister's eyes to widen. "Apparently, he had a very good time,"

* * *

"I will give you 100 pounds to spare his life," Evy said as we and the warden sat on a balcony where we could see the gallows. One of the guards led the man who kissed me up the steps, and forced him to stand still.

"I would pay 100 hundred pounds just to see him hang," the warden replied, and I sighed, closing my eyes briefly. This is not good.

"Two-200 pounds!" Evy tried.

"Proceed!" the warden called, ignoring her.

"300 pounds!" my sister pressed as the hangman tied the noose around the man's neck.

"We're not letting him go, right?" the hangman suddenly mocked after exchanging a sentence or two, which we could not hear because we were too far away and we could barely hear anything because of all the prisoners' yells, with the man, but still looked at the Warden for opinion.

"Are you out of your mind? Of course we're not letting him go!" the warden called back, and the hangman smacked the man who kissed me at the back of his head.

"500 pounds!" I tried, and the warden raised his hand, signalizing for the hangman to wait, and turned to me, interested.

"And what else? I'm very lonely," he said, putting his hand on my left knee. As fast as a flash, I took out my gun from my holster on my right leg, and pointed it at his head.

"Get... your hands... off me," I ordered dangerously, and he quickly did so while I put my gun away. Suddenly, he yelled something in Arabic to the hangman, causing him to pull the lever that opened the trap door beneath the man who kissed me.

"No!" Evy and I both yelled and got up on our feet, as the man who kissed me fell down and started hanging. He started making choking sounds, trying to free himself as Evy and I watched in horror. The warden let out a laugh.

"His neck did not break!" he exclaimed as if it were the best thing ever. At the moment though, it probably was. The prisoners then started pushing against the guards, trying to reach the gallows, while my sister and I fell back onto our chairs, "Oh, I'm sorry. But now we have to watch as he strangles to death," he addressed me and Evy as we watched in worry.

"He knows the location of Hamunaptra," I finally blurted out, and the warden turned to me.

"You lie."

"She would never!" Evy exclaimed.

"Are you telling me that this filthy, godless son of a pig knows the location of the City of the Dead?" the warden asked skeptically, but with a hint of greed in his eyes.

"Yes," I replied.

"Truly?!"

"Yes. And if you cut him down, I'll give you..." I trailed off as I looked at the hanging man, whose eyes started to roll back into his head. "10 percent!'

"50," the warden started negotiating.

"20,"

"40,"

"30,"

"25," he said, and I grinned, knowing that he didn't even realize he made the deal better for me.

"Aha! Deal!" I grinned in triumph. Realization dawned on him and he groaned, for a second looking like he wanted to smack himself across the face.

"Cut him down!" he yelled, and the guard cut the rope the was hanging on, causing him to fall down. He now could breathe, and I stood up, looking at him with my eyebrows raised. The man rolled over on his back and stared at me in surprise, but also gratitude and amazement in his eyes, making me smile.

* * *

"Do you really think he's going to come?" Evy asked Jonathan skeptically as we made our way through the crowd of people at the Giza Port the next day. We were supposed to meet Richard O'Connell here, the man we saved the day earlier.

"Undoubtedly," Jonathan assured. "I know his breed. He may be a cowboy, but his word is his word,"

"Personally, I think he's filthy, rude, and a complete scoundrel," Evy said with a bit of disgust in her voice. "I don't like him one bit,"

"Anyone I know?" I heard an American accent from behind me, making the three of us turn around. Mr. O'Connell walked up to us; shaved, showered, with a new haircut. I have to admit, he is a very handsome man. Evy's jaw dropped, and she looked at him with wide eyes. Mr. O'Connell raised his eyebrows at her, and she cleared her throat, setting her bags down on the ground as she looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"Oh... Um... Hello,"

"Smashing day for the start of an adventure, eh, O'Connell?" Jonathan asked with a chuckle, patting Mr. O'Connell's chest as if they were best of friends.

"Yeah," Mr. O'Connell agreed with a strained smile as he shook my brother's hand, "Yeah, smashing," He then quickly pulled out his wallet to check if it was still in his pocket, which made me chuckle quietly as I also set my bags on the ground.

"Oh, no. I'd never steal from a partner, partner," Jonathan said, which made Mr. O'Connell relax a bit as he chuckled as well.

"Oh, yeah. Since we're on that, sorry about the..." he trailed off and made a punching motion with his fist.

"Oh, no," Jonathan waved him off. "It happens all the time,"

"Mr. O'Connell, can you look me in the eye and guarantee that this is not some sort of flimflam?" Evy asked daringly.

"Because if it is, I'm warning you-"

"_You're_ warning _me_?" Mr. O'Connell cut me off with raised eyebrows, before looking me dead in the eye," My whole damn garrison believed in it so much that, without orders, we marched halfway across Libya and into Egypt to find that city. And when we got there, all we found was sand, and blood," he said with a tiny hint of pain in his eyes, before breaking the eye contact, "I'll take your bags," he offered, before grabbing my bags and walking away to step onto the boat, leaving me to stare after him with a puzzled yet intrigued expression.

"Yes, yes, you're right," Jonathan told Evy sarcastically, "Filthy, rude, and a complete scoundrel. Nothing to like there at all," Evy just stared at him before laughing a little, before grabbing her bags, ready to get onto the boat as well.

"Greetings, everyone," I heard an Arabic accent and smelled a foul smell, before seeing the face of the warden whom I negotiated with yesterday.

"Oh, no, what are _you_ doing here?" I groaned in annoyance as he started walking up the stairs that led onto the boat.

"I came to protect my part of the deal," the warden simply replied, which made me sigh in irritation. This is going to be a long trip.

* * *

I was now sitting on a chair at one of the tables on the boat, reading a book I borrowed from Evy, seeing as she was already asleep in our cabin. The lamp on the table gifted me with just the right amount of light I needed to read, and the music played in the background. I decided to read about the Lost City, Hamunaptra, or at least anything that was so far recorded about it, seeing as no one has ever been there and returned to tell the tale. Except for Mr. O'Connell, of course. But then again, we only had his word for it.

I was snapped out of my reading when a duffel bag suddenly dropped on the table in front of me, with whatever that was inside of it making a big noise, making me jump and gasp in surprise. I looked up, only to see Mr. O'Connell standing above me, smiling a small smile.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized as he took off his jacket, allowing me to see him in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a brown gun holster strapped to his shoulders.

"It takes a lot more than that to scare me, Mr. O'Connell," I replied before looking back to my book as I muttered, "Your manners, for instance,"

"You still angry about that kiss, huh?" he asked, making me look up again.

"If you can even call it a kiss," I said, before going back to my reading. Just a moment later, a whole collection of different kinds of weapons and ammunition rolled out on the table in front of me as Mr. O'Connell sat on the other side of the table, "Did I miss something?" I asked as I looked at the multiple weapons laid out in front of me, which included even dynamite. "Are we planning to fight a battle?"

"Well, there's something out there." Mr. O'Connell said as he checked if the chamber of his pistol was empty, "Something underneath that sand," he said before putting the gun back in his holster.

"Yes, well, my sister is hoping to find a certain artifact - a book, actually - while my brother thinks there's treasure," I said as Mr. O'Connell took out another gun, "What do you think is out there?" I asked as I grabbed one of his knives and inspected it in the light.

"One word: evil," Mr. O'Connell replied, "The Bedouin people believe that the city is cursed," he said as he watched me while I looked at his knife. "Well, it looks like you at least know how to hold a weapon properly, that's good," he mused, and I rose my eyebrows as I looked at him.

"I know more than just how to _hold_ a weapon, Mr. O'Connell. I know how to _handle_ one," I said as I put down the knife and took out my gun from the holster that was on my thigh underneath my dress. His eyes widened, and he looked at my face with something close to admiration, or impressiveness in his eyes.

"Whoa," he muttered, making me smile a small smile as I put my gun away.

"Anyways, my sister doesn't believe in curses, hokum, and fairy tales, so there is no way you can tell her that without being laughed at," I said.

"What about you? Do you believe in curses?" Mr. O'Connell asked, and I fell quiet for a second.

"No," I answered, looking down for a second before looking back up at Mr. O'Connell, only to see him watching me intently. "However, I do believe that the book of Amun-Ra is buried there. It contains all the secret incantations of the Old Kingdom. Evy and I were both interested in it as children, which is why I even let her come with me on this expedition in the first place. Usually I wouldn't, seeing as she doesn't even know how to punch someone in the face without breaking her own hand, but I couldn't say no this time. It's been her dream for as long as I can remember, and I can't take that opportunity away from her,"

"And the fact that it's made out of pure gold makes no never mind to you and your sister?" Mr. O'Connell asked in what seemed to be slight disbelief, but with a small smile on his face.

"You know your history," I smiled.

"I know my treasure," he corrected, making me chuckle as he cocked his shotgun.

"Um, by the way..." I trailed off as I waited for him to look at me. "Why did you kiss me?"

"I don't know, I was about to be hanged. It seemed like a good idea at the time," he answered nonchalantly with a small smirk as he cleaned another one of his guns, making me scoff and shake my head as I grabbed Evy's book and stood up, walking away from him. Men, "What?" I heard him ask quietly, but didn't pay attention anymore. "What'd I say?" I simply shook my head once again and walked further away before I stopped by the camels and petted one on the head. It nuzzled my neck, making me chuckle as I took a step back. Suddenly, I felt two pairs of eyes watching me, making me turn around, only to see O'Connell with a scrawny-looking man next to him watching me. I looked at O'Connell for a second, before walking away and heading towards mine and Evy's cabin.


	3. IMPORTANT Author's Note

Hi, everyone! First of all, I want to apologize for the terribly long wait. I know that it may seem like I completely abandoned this story, but I swear that I haven't. At first, I put the story on hold because I simply didn't have the time or the inspiration to continue, but then I started thinking, and I realized that it may be time to edit this story, as well as many of my other older stories. I started writing this story a long time ago, and I've grown as a writer a lot since then. I've also improved in English, which isn't my first language, so I decided to edit this story first. The chapters I published now are the edited version, so I suggest you read them because I made a few important changes to the storyline. Anyway, I hope you still like this story and I hope you haven't given up on it. Feel free to leave any questions you have in the reviews or PM me. I should be back to writing soon! Thank you all so much for you patience and support!


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